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Video: N. Korea showing no signs of regret

Transcript of: N. Korea showing no signs of regret

LESTER HOLT, anchor (Kabul, Afghanistan):Now to the other
big story
we're covering tonight.
South Korea
's
military
remains on high alert one day after a deadly assault by
North Korea
plunged the region to -- into a new crisis. Many of those on the tiny island that came under attack made their way to
Incheon
on
South Korea
's mainland.
NBC
's
Ian Williams
is there tonight for us.
Ian
, good evening.

IAN WILLIAMS reporting:Good evening,
Lester
. There were no fresh clashes today, but the border between the two
Koreas
remains extremely tense. The
South Korean army
is preparing for big new
military exercises
with the US. Heading to
Korea
, the aircraft carrier
USS George Washington
left
Japan today
for joint exercises with
South Korea
, a preplanned move according to officials, but one intended as
a show of force
to deter the
North
. The death toll from Tuesday's artillery attack now includes civilians. Soldiers sifting through the remains of a fishing village on
Yeonpyeong Island
today found two more victims, thought to be construction workers. Two soldiers were also killed. Dozens of houses were destroyed in the one-hour shelling by the
North
, described as one of the gravest incidents here since the
Korean War
. Many shattered buildings were still smoldering today. Several
military
facilities were also damaged or destroyed. Shaken civilians continued to be evacuated to the mainland. Most earn a living from crab fishing. They knew they lived
on the front line
, just two miles from the disputed sea border, but nobody had expected this.

Unidentified Girl:

WILLIAMS:'It was a sea of fire,' said this 10-year-old. Many had thought it was just an exercise.

Unidentified Woman #1:

WILLIAMS:'I don't know how to describe it,' this resident said. 'It was very, very, very scary.' The authorities are encouraging several thousand residents from a string of other
front line
islands to evacuate their homes.

Unidentified Woman #2:

WILLIAMS:There was no sign of any regrets from the
North today
, where
TV news
showed the dear leader
Kim John Il
visiting a soy sauce factor, and later a hospital with his heir apparent son.
The North
's official news agency accused the
South
of, quote, "driving the situation to the brink of war," the government line echoed on the streets of the capital
Pyongyang
.

Unidentified Woman #3:

WILLIAMS:'The army demonstrated to the whole world that we don't make empty talk,' this person said. In
South Korea
, people have grown used to the threatening and often bizarre behavior of their northern neighbor, but amid blanket news coverage of the latest crisis, there is a growing anger and unease. Much of that anger is also aimed at their own government for failing to prevent the attack, and that in turn is adding to pressure

A South Korean border guard mans a post through a fence draped with re-unification ribbons near the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, on Dec. 22, 2010. South Korea vowed Wednesday to "punish the enemy" as hundreds of troops, fighter jets, tanks and attack helicopters prepared massive new drills near the heavily armed border a month after a deadly North Korean artillery attack.
(Wally Santana / AP)
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A North Korean defector takes part in a candle light vigil on the eve of the one month anniversary of the North Korea's attack on Yeonpyeong Island in downtown Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 22.
(Ng Han Guan / AP)
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A combination of photos shows North Korean soldiers taking part in a shooting exercise at a field in Kaepoong county, on the north side of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, in this picture taken from south of the DMZ in Paju, about 31 miles north of Seoul, on Dec. 22.
(Jo Yong-hak / Reuters)
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Bae Bok-soon (R), an older sister of Bae Bok-chul, cries during the funeral for the two civilians who died when North Korea shelled Yeonpyeong Island on November 23, in Incheon, west of Seoul on De. 6.
(Jo Yong-hak / Reuters)
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Crew members watch as an F/A-18E Super Hornet lands on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington during a naval exercise with South Korea in the Yellow Sea on Tuesday, Nov. 30. The drills come amid heightened tension in the region after a North Korean artillery attack on South Korea's Yeonpyeong island last week.
(Park Ji-hwan / AFP - Getty Images)
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Staff watch radar screens in the Combat Direction Center on the USS George Washington during the military drills off South Korea.
(Wally Santana / AP)
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Former South Korean special agents whose mission was to infiltrate North Korea, sing a military song during a rally on the Yeonpyeong island, South Korea. About 85 former agents, who criticized the North's attack and urged the South Korean government to punish Pyongyang, landed the island Nov. 30 and said they would stay for a week to help with reconstruction.
(Lee Jin-man / AP)
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South Korean marines watch President Lee Myung-Bak's news conference on a television minitor on Yeonpyeong island on Nov. 29. Lee condemned North Korea's recent shelling of the South Korean border island, calling an attack against civilians an "inhumane" crime.
(Jeon Heon-Kyun / EPA)
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South Korean ships stage off the coast of South Korea's Yeonpyeong Island on Nov. 28 as war drills by the United States and South Korea began.
(David Guttenfelder / AP)
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South Korean protesters hold candles during a rally in Seoul opposing the military exercise between South Korea and the United States.
(Park Ji-hwan / AFP - Getty Images)
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South Korean women take cover inside a bomb shelter on Yeonpyeong Island after authorities sounded the alarm over a possible North Korean rocket attack on Nov. 28. It proved to be a false alarm.
(David Guttenfelder / AP)
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A North Korean soldier, right, looks back as she and another soldier patrol on a pathway along the bank of the Yalu River near Sinuiju, North Korea, Nov. 28.
(Andy Wong / AP)
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A South Korean police car is reflected in the shattered glass of a restaurant window along a seaside road on Yeonpyeong island on Nov. 27.
(David Guttenfelder / AP)
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Former South Korean marines burn images of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, right, and his son Kim Jong Un, during a rally Nov. 27 in Seoul.
(Wally Santana / AP)
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Kim Oh-bock, mother of Seo Jung-woo, a South Korean marine killed in the Nov. 23 North Korean bombardment, cries as she holds his casket during a funeral service Nov. 27 at a military hospital in Seongnam.
(Ahn Young-joon / AP)
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South Korean protesters denouncing North Korean attack on an island close to the border between the two nations burn a North Korean flag in Seoul on Nov. 24. After North Korea's strike, South Korea and the United States said they would launch four-day naval exercises in the Yellow Sea involving an American aircraft carrier.
(Jung Yeon-Je / AFP - Getty Images)
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A picture taken off television shows the moment of impact of one of the artillery shells fired by North Korea onto the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong.
(Reuters TV)
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Related video

This picture taken by a South Korean tourist shows
huge plumes of smoke rising from Yeonpyeong Island in the disputed waters of the Yellow Sea on Nov. 23. North Korea fired dozens of artillery shells onto the South Korean island, killing two people, setting homes ablaze and triggering retaliatory fire by the South. It was one of the most serious clashes between the two sides in decades.
(AFP - Getty Images)
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Editor's note:
This image contains graphic content that some viewers may find disturbing.